The global banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector continues to chart a path of recovery from the subprime mortgage crisis and Great Recession that rocked the industry in the first decade of the 21st century.

Many of the multinational banking companies affected by the crisis are reclaiming financial strength and business agility by outsourcing higher-skill, financial services to lower-cost destinations in India and the Philippines.

That’s one of the observations from a comprehensive Cushman & Wakefield 2017 outlook report, “Winds of Change.” As a global real estate advisor, Cushman & Wakefield focuses on office space demand, but because of this, the company also has its finger on the pulse of outsourcing activity in India, the Philippines and other APAC countries.

India and the Philippines, because of their educated, English-speaking workforces, have long been popular outsourcing destinations for the BFSI industry for tasks such as data entry and voice-based customer service. However, Cushman & Wakefield have observed a trend of outsourcing more complex BFSI functions, including risk and fraud management, portfolio analysis, financial modeling, and support of derivative transactions.

“With global growth seen to be slowing, banks are looking to cut costs further while improving their business agility as they face lower returns, negative policy rates and bad assets,” the report authors said.

India, which holds the No. 1 spot in the A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index, remains the go-to destination for global BFSI organizations. Companies have access to a workforce in which many hold advanced degrees, not to mention years of experience in the Information Technology-BPO sector. With software automation, artificial intelligence and cloud computing increasingly coming into play for financial services transactions, India is positioning itself as a provider of high-skill knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), as well as business process management consulting.

DATAMARK, a provider of outsourced business services to the BFSI industry, has recognized the trend as well. The company recently opened a second service delivery center in Mumbai, India, the financial hub of the country.

Cushman & Wakefield states that “India has the potential nearly 700,000-900,000 jobs over the next five years in the BFSI sector.” Driving the boom will be several key BFSI players with a presence in India, including Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, MasterCard, Standard Chartered, and Wells Fargo.

“Opportunities for significant cost savings, availability of skilled and sufficient English-speaking manpower at cheaper rates, and competent upper-level management coupled with other benefits have supported India’s stronghold as the premier outsourcing destination in the world,” the report’s authors stated.
To learn more about DATAMARK’s business services for the banking, financial services and insurance sector, and onshore or offshore outsourcing solutions, contact our business process outsourcing experts today at info@datamark.net.